Atlantic Ocean: roughly from 45°N to 45°S in the southwestern Atlantic and 35°S in the southeastern Atlantic. Records from the Mediterranean Sea, and from Bretagne, France seem to correspond to a few straying individuals. Classified as 'reduced' (Ref. 12451). It is unclear whether there are two separate stocks or a single population in the Atlantic. Highly migratory species, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (Ref. 26139).

Biologie
Glossaire
(ex. epibenthic)

Usually above the thermocline. Its distribution varies seasonally, reaching higher latitudes in both the northern and southern hemispheres only during the respective warm seasons. Usually found in deep (over 100 m) blue water with surface temperatures over 22°C and salinities of 35 to 37 ppt. Currents of 0.5 to 2 knots occur over much of its habitat. Feeds on fishes and squids. Females grow larger (Ref. 4770). Flesh is of excellent quality. Marketed fresh and frozen.

Migrates into subtropical waters to spawn, with peak spawning occurring in early summer. The spawning areas are found in deep and blue oceanic waters, generally at high temperatures ranging from 20° to 29°C except in the southern Atlantic gyrals, and high surface salinities (over 35 ppt).